The detection methods that have been used to date, and which were validated by the JRC-IHCP Community Reference Laboratory with assistance from ENGL laboratories (http://engl.jrc.it), are mainly based on the quantitative real-time PCR technique. The aim of these methods is to quantify the contents of GMOs that are approved for the European market. In recent years, growth in the numbers of genetically-modified plants, the asynchronous approval of GMOs between the EU and other countries and the dissemination of GMOs not authorised in any particular country (Bt10 in the USA, Bt63 in China, etc.) have necessitated the development of detection techniques that will enable a distinction between authorised and non-authorised GMOs.

As early as 1999, in the context of the European GMOchips programme, INRA researchers proposed the "Matrix Approach" (implemented on chips or SNPLex), the aim being to develop methods that would be able to detect non-approved and generally unknown GMOs (UGM: Unknown Genetically Modified Organism). This matrix approach represents the second stage in the methods and strategies for the detection of UGMs developed by INRA, the first having been the so-called differential quantitative PCR (Anal. Biochem. 376 (2008) 189-199) which is currently used by control laboratories and is under validation in the context of the European Co-Extra research programme (http://www.coextra.eu), coordinated by INRA.

Thanks to the satisfactory results obtained by the GMOchips programme, a new biochip, called DualChip®, which utilises EAT (Eppendorf Arrays Technology) was proposed and then validated by the European Joint Research Centre under ISO standard 5725 (Co-Extra programme). The results of inter-laboratory studies have now been published (http://bgmo.jrc.ec.europa.eu/home/documents/report-JRC-EAT.pdf; Eur. Food Res. Technol. (2008) 227: 1621-1632) and are positive.

INRA also jointly chairs the UGM working group for the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL). A document explaining the approach adopted regarding UGMs and their detection should be published in the near future.

INRA is active in this field because the standards, detection strategies and methods employed in this context of GMOs are also of value in other areas, such as the quantification of gene expression, the detection of pathogens (plant and animal), the detection of mycotoxin-producing micro-organisms and allergen-producing organisms. The detection of GMOs was the first area implementing the reasoned and standardised application of PCR. These techniques, which can be used for general traceability and other purposes are currently applied to numerous products in the agrifood industry, thus improving food safety and quality in supply chains, and the competitiveness of European industry.

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